Many, many moons ago I recall waiting with a bunch of my geeky and not-so-geeky high school pals in a never-ending line around the block for the  highly-anticipated 12:01 showing of Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace. It was a showing at our local theater, before the days of stadium seating and online ticketing. I remember that the film held a certain magic in the hours before it started.

Energy was buzzing all around us. While waiting, my friends and I played poker, tossed a football, answered trivia from boys dressed as Jedi Knights, and talked about which starship would win in a battle. Anyone who goes to Comic-Con’s geekest panel of them all, “Starship Smackdown”, knows the Millennium Falcon has been taken out of the running for winning one too many times.

But, I digress. There was excitement, magic, and a new hope that this film would be great. Sadly, I was a bit disappointed. As were many others that day.

As I waited for my friend to arrive at the 12:01 Arclight Hollywood Dome showing of Iron Man 2, I recalled those days with a bit of nostalgia. As I looked around the theater, I realized the movie-going experience had evolved.

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It’s the most wonderful time of the year. It’s finally here! After a long and cold winter (well for the East Coast anyways- us West Coasters only had the infrequent earthquake) the glory of Summer movies is upon us. Can’t you tell I’m excited?

In an effort to make your choices clear, I’ve devised a list of movies in May based on their geekiness, hotness, and a few other gauges of greatness. Read on to see which films you should wait in line for and which should wait for you in your Netflix queue.

MAY MOVIES

May 7th
Iron Man 2

Pure, unadulterated, awesomeness.  I will be going, as in I bought my 12:01 Arclight ticket weeks ago. I expect Iron Man himself to introduce my movie-going experience. If I’m lucky John Favreau and a host of Marvelites will be sitting behind me watching my every emotion with bated breath.

Geekiness Factor: There are cool gadgets only a brilliant mind like Stark or Favreau could devise. There’s a shot in the trailer of Iron Man and War Machine unleashing holy Hell to all comers. It’s also based on a comic book (whowouldathunkit) which ups the geekiness factor dramatically.

Screen Steamer: Robert Downey Jr., or for those thinking they’re cool by calling him RDJ, is in it. He is 5 feet 10 inches of hotness in a scruffy, arrogant, decisive package. And oh yeah, Scarlett Johansson is also wearing tight black leather.

As I have yet to hear more than 2 words from her in the trailer, I will guess the bigwigs believe her bottle of red hair dye #10 is all the hotness needed to make fanboys line up. I, on the other hand, have seen her films and expect her to talk. She has a great personality beyond that pout… really, she does I swear.

Great Expectations: Just a little (note sarcasm). “I am Iron Man.” Tony Stark better bring it in this one. But, does that mean more villains, more suits, more plots, more romance, and more action? Yes, apparently that’s what constituents as better to the studios, to the detriment of us. Hopefully Favreau wised up, but from what I’ve heard and seen, that’s not the case.

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As promised, the latest trailer for the much anticipated Iron Man 2 made its debut after the Academy Awards during Jimmy Kimmell Live, and boy is it cool. In this new one we’re given more action, more fighting, more story, more comedy and more Robert Downey, Jr. All of those elements, and more, come together for a very exiting trailer indeed.

Another great thing we get to see finally is the much rumored “suitcase armor” which Tony Stark carries with him for those little emergencies — like when he’s attacked by a whip-wielding Mickey Rourke as Whiplash. It’s also great to see more of Don Cheadle as he comes into his own as War Machine, the always cool Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer and Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow.

Check out the latest trailer, courtesy of the folks at MySpace, after the jump. Iron Man 2 blows audiences away starting on May 7th. That day can not come soon enough.

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Are you excited for this summer’s Iron Man 2? Do you know French? Then you’ll love this new clip that the kind folks at French MSN.com put up. The second half of the video is the trailer that we’ve all seen before, but it’s the first half that has all new footage.

Director Jon Favreau, Robert Downey Jr., Mickey Rourke, and Scarlett Johansson all chat about some of the effects in the upcoming film, and some of the things they’re doing to introduce Stark’s newest opponent, Whiplash. The character is more of a hybrid of both Crymson Dynamo and Whiplash from the comics, with Dynamo’s backstory and Whiplash’s abilities and name.

With a screenplay from Tropic Thunder’s Justin Theroux, Iron Man 2 is set to hit theaters and IMAX on May 7th of this year. Along with Rourke, Downey, and Johansson, the film also stars Don Cheadle, Gwyneth Paltrow, Sam Rockwell, and Samuel L. Jackson.

Check out the french footage, courtesy of MSN.fr here. They don’t allow embedding, sorry.

As if it were any surprise, many of next year’s blockbuster films will be coming to IMAX at the same time as they hit regular theaters. With that obvious news comes the neat tidbit that Jon Favreau’s upcoming sequel to 2008′s Iron Man will also be hitting the mondo-screen along with the regular-sized ones.

Unlike The Dark Knight, for example, Iron Man 2 wasn’t always planned for IMAX  and was sent to IMAX to be blown up for next year’s release. The current IMAX release is set to hit on May 7th, the same as as the non-IMAX version comes out.

The sequel will star Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Don Cheadle, Sam Rockwell, Gwyneth Paltrow, Mickey Rourke, and Samuel L. Jackson. This story will focus on Stark (Downey Jr.) coming out to the public as Iron Man, while facing a backlash of enemies in both of his lifestyles.

Here it is, your first look at the brand new poster for the upcoming sequel Iron Man 2, courtesy of Yahoo Movies. We don’t need to tell you that this movie is going to rock . . . and rock hard. Still, its nice to finally see some more “official’ stuff coming from the studio and the production.

As you can see from the poster, it features our hero, Iron Man, backed by another familiar “face,” the infamous War Machine. Which, you have to admit, looks pretty awesome.

This film will be released on May 7th so, sadly, we still have some time to wait. After seeing this, and all the rest of the stuff prior to it, I’m sure it’ll be well worth it.

As you know (unless you live in a cave and/or have no access to the Internet), the film stars Robert Downey Jr., Gweneth Paltrow, Don Chealde, Scarlett Johansson, Mickey Rourke, Sam Rockwell, and Jon Favreau.

Check out a much bigger version of the new poster after the jump.

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Previously, we had the first picture of Mickey Rourke as “Whiplash” in Iron Man 2. And now, we’ve got a brand new picture of Scarlett Johansson suited up as Natasha Romanova’s alter ego Black Widow from the movie, courtesy of Entertainment Weekly. Not much really needs to be said about these pictures except the following: Scarlett Johansson, curly red hair, tight black catsuit, hot. I’ll let that sink in for a moment.

Along with the new pics, EW’s PopWatch has also posted excerpts from the interview that contained the pictures. The interview sheds some light on a few interesting elements of the project including Mickey Rourke’s character and the switch from Terrence Howard to Don Cheadle in the role of James “Rhodey” Rhodes. “Terrence and I couldn’t be more different,” said Cheadle. “We address it head-on in the movie in one exchange. We’re not trying to fool people.”

Also according to the report, Rourke’s character “creates his own battle-suit, which shoots devastating, whip-like beams” while incarcerated in a Russian prison. While this seems to confirm reports that Rourke’s “Vanko” character will be a mash-up of Crimson Dynamo and Whiplash, the report also touches on elements of a potential love triangle between Johansson, Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow’s Pepper Potts in the film. Must be nice to have two women like that fighting over you.

Click through for slightly larger versions of the photos. Iron Man 2 hits theaters May 7, 2010.

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